Charter Schools

My wife and I went to the Second Ascent Twilight Criterium bike race over the weekend. There we ran into a friend who was also in education. Naturally the conversation turned to schools, as it always seems to with folks in education. We were weaving through topics ranging from my wife's classroom to my student teaching to hiring, and somehow to charter schools.

Our friend is a believer that the system, as it currently stands, is broken. We are educating kids, but we aren't meeting the needs of all of the kids in the system (not by a long shot). I certainly agree. The parent group pushing for merit pay, or at least a system that doesn't jettison its youth, was also mentioned. Our friend mentioned how the push for merit pay, and charter schools, could be something that helps deconstruct the system so that it can be rebuilt to better serve kids.

That got me thinking about charters as a whole, particularly as Geoffrey Canada will be here in the fall for Solid Ground's Annual Luncheon. He, if you will remember, is the creator of the Harlem Children's Zone. The HCZ got a ton of press when Obama was campaigning, as was seen as what our nation needs more of. The hubbub around the HCZ makes me shake my head in amazement.

The program isn't scalable for starters. Those that think it could be done without the money are fooling themselves. I am sure there are many great elementary schools with far less money, but they represent a vast minority not the majority. Comparing HCZ to the public schools in Harlem would also show a massive disparity in funding. But let's get away from funding, as Jonathan Kozol has been pushing that for years and people still don't want to believe him!

Charter schools can take liberties that public schools can't. If you don't cut it in their system, from grades to decorum, you can be shipped out. What does shipping a student out do? First is that it takes that student out of the statistical equation for the charter school. Second is that the student needs to go somewhere, with the likely landing spot being public school. When people go to look at the statistics, the charter school can pump itself up... but also benefits from a bump down for the public school it is comparing itself to! Bridging Differences does a great job of looking at charters, particularly Mr. Canada's.

I have nothing against Mr. Canada or the HCZ. I even have a friend that is a principal of a new KIPP school in Baltimore (opening this fall). What I have a problem with is turning our backs on kids and families. We have an obligation to teach all children, not just the ones that we think will help us most.